I was reading this and was disappointed when I found out it was only 3M vs 2.6M years (is 300K years really that significant) and it was in Kenya vs Ethiopia (they share borders, com'on was this click bait) ...
But then it talked about different humanoid (?) species. And that was cool
No pics of the bones though
A 3 Million-Year-Old Discovery May Rewrite the History of Intelligent Life on Earth
Quote:
For years, researchers have believed that human ancestors in Ethiopia were the first beings to use crude stone tools, about 2.6 million years ago.
But a recently-published study introduces new findings that suggest tool-making occurred over 300,000 years prior, in a completely different location, and by a species that isn't even an ancestor to modern humans.
|
Quote:
|
The paper in Science—which was co-authored by researchers spanning various institutions—describes a site in Nyayanga, Kenya that dates to 3.032 to 2.581 million years ago. Archeologists have been excavating the site since 2015 and discovered 330 artifacts (including tools), 1776 bones, and two hominin molars—but not belonging to any direct human ancestors.
|
Quote:
|
Most incredibly, the paper also chronicles the team’s discovery of Paranthropus molars. The Paranthropus genus is not an ancestor to modern Homo sapiens, but rather a kind of evolutionary cousin. The molars are the oldest fossilized Paranthropus remains ever found.
|